Here's a look at the past. Items have been culled from The Chronicle's archives of 25, 50, 75 and 100 years ago.

1987

April 7: The Automatic Human Jukebox, a tourist institution near Ghirardelli Square, may have his plug yanked. For 15 years, tourists standing at Hyde and Beach Streets could insert money unto the slot of Grimes Poznikov's homemade "jukebox" booth and request a tune. A window would pop open and from inside, Poznikov would pop up, dressed in brown fedora, wild tie and shoulder-length hair, blaring away on a beat-up trumpet. But no more. Poznikov was ticketed by noise police two weeks ago and lost his street corner. He was 13 decibels too high, said noise abatement officer William Arieta, who used a decibel meter to catch him in the act as Poznikov played "I Left My Heart in San Francisco." Poznikov is not just any old street artist. He has appeared in Newsweek, been mentioned in the Wall Street Journal and even ran for the city school board, garnering 14,783 votes. Nevertheless he has detractors.

"They ought to have a law that you can play only if you know how to play," said Dan Cass, a fellow street artist. "If you listen to him for five minutes, you know you wouldn't want to listen all day."

1962

April 2: A runaway car went on a wild ride down Telegraph Hill yesterday, careening wildly off parked cars and through two intersections before it slammed to a halt in front of a restaurant. The 1959 sedan began rolling at the crest of the Green Street hill near Montgomery Street and first struck a 1953 sedan owned by William De Rade, then sped across Kearny where it sideswiped two more cars, one a 1957 sedan owned by Hazel Leong the other a 1950 model owned by Joe Griego. Then, gaining momentum, it swung over to the right side of Green again, just before it wheeled across Grant Avenue. In front of the Green Valley Restaurant stood Paddy O'Sullivan who had been watching the ride. O'Sullivan pushed a couple back inside the restaurant just as the runaway steered toward them. The runaway came to a jolting stop into the rear of a 1958 pick-up owned by Albert Wong, which in turn rammed a 1955 car owned by Bob Silvestri of 549 Green.

1937

April 7: The "Plate of brasse" California's lost historical treasure, with which Sir Francis Drake claimed the lands about San Francisco for England 357 years ago has been found near San Rafael. The revelation was made at a luncheon of the California Historical Society by Dr. Herbert E. Bolton, professor of American History at the University of California. The famous plate lay on the white cloth of a luncheon table at the Sir Francis Drake Hotel, its own proof of its authenticity. On June 17, 1579 Drake traveled up the California coast and found "conuenient and safe harborough" where he stopped for five weeks to recondition his ship, the Golden Hinde. On his departure he nailed the message to a post. The relic is of solid brass, five inches by eight inches and an eighth of an inch thick. Astounding to historians is the fact that the place of the plate's discovery overlooks the bay. It has always been thought that Drake careened his ship in Drake's Bay 30 miles from San Francisco and some historians have placed his camp at Bodega Bay. There is now no doubt that the place of the camp may have been in San Francisco Bay. The plate was found by Beryle Shinn of Oakland on a hill overlooking the bay. Shinn has been voted a gift of $3,500 by the University of California.

1912

April 7: The body of Dorance Atwater, the soldier who secretly copied the roll of Union dead at Andersonville prison, has reached its final resting place on the island of Tahiti. As a Union soldier Atwater was detailed to clerical work by the Confederates and in this position copied the rolls. It was he who kept that fearful tally each morning as the echo of the gruesome order "Turn out your dead" rolled across the stockade. He tallied faithfully until his list contained over 13,000 names with place of enlistment, company, regiment, brigade and corps. This roll he, at the risk of his life, carried from prison, thus preserving to the nation and their relatives the location of the last resting place of their dead. After the war he was appointed Consul at Papeete, Tahiti. His later years were spent in traveling. In 1910 he made several attempts to return to Tahiti from San Francisco but because of illness the trip had to be abandoned. On the 28th of November 1910 he passed away. In January this year, the casket, accompanied by veterans of the Lincoln Post, Grand Army of the Republic, repaired to the old transport dock where a farewell volley was fired, and the casket put on board the steamer bound for Tahiti. {sbox}